I had to laugh today when I saw an email from Tabu Nightclub in downtown Orlando with a subject line “ORLANDO HATES SAGGY PANTS.” The email may have a silly subject line but the author is quite serious about its contents.

Turns out the club is turning away customers who wear pants hanging past their hips exposing their boxers, a fashion trend made popular mostly by young, African-American men. The club is also against “baggy clothes” as well according to co-owner John SanFelippo.

When I asked him if the club was a accused of racism for the move, he said that is the “number one defense mechanism” from folks being turned away for their fashion-don’t.

“We’re the most culturally diverse Friday and Saturday night in downtown [Orlando],” says SanFelippo. “When I hear that I say look around you, we’re definitely not racist.”

SanFelippo says Tabu’s patrons are 50-60 percent African-American and he’s also talked to customers thanking the club for pushing the new dress code. He said originally they let the look go because the club wants to be about what’s hot and trendy and they “fell for it” thinking that was the ‘in” look. They soon started hearing it was a “prison look” and Tabu didn’t want to be associated with it.

“We started the crusade, for lack of a better word, eight or nine months ago,” says SanFelippo. In the first weekend alone he said they turned away between 500 – 700 folks in line.

The numbers of folks at the club on a given Friday or Saturday since the initial move haven’t gone down but they haven’t gone up, he thinks the club is replacing people with people.

He said for the most part friends of those not adhering to the dress code are giving them a hard time too if they’re called out in line. The club is so serious about the move, they’re also including “NO SAGGY PANTS!” in their advertisements as well.

And do folks still try to sneak the look once inside? According to SanFelippo, certainly. But they get one warning to pull their pants up, which he says works 50 percent of the time, the other 50 percent are asked to leave.